“I pray that the life of this spring and summer may ever lie fair in my memory.”
Henry David Thoreau
This weekend, as the temps finally rose between 35 and 40, we smelled that wonderful aroma of melting snow. Around here, there is no better smell in early March than that. It is a slow melt, and we are still below normal in temps, but the wildlife are showing up to trumpet in the coming of spring. Robins have returned to the garden. Although they are around all year, they live together in groups where food is more abundant. And a pileated woodpecker showed up to see what insects might be stirring under the bark of the trees.
But with all the snow cover, there are still no blooms on Bloom Day. Just snow everywhere. But as Tammy@Casa Mariposa reminded me, “You are closer to spring today than you were yesterday”. And that thought makes me happy.
Last year at this time, most of the snow was melted, and crocus were blooming along with a snowdrop or two. But with the hard grip of winter hanging on (more snow due midweek with cold temps), I am still dreaming of spring and the first blooms. As I link in with Carol@May Dreams Gardens, where she hosts GBBD on the 15th of every month, I am highlighting another little early spring bloom, Glory-of-the-Snow or Chionodoxa.
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The pastel pinks, blues and white of Glory-of-the-Snow spread fast under trees, shrubs and beside later growing perennials. Glory-of-the-Snow grows in zones 4-8, and grows 3-6 inches tall. The star-shaped flowers have six-petals, yellow anthers and last a few weeks. Plant the bulbs in fall in any partly sunny spot with moist well-drained soil.
This lovely little flower is part of the family Asparagaceae. It is found naturally in the eastern Mediterranean, specifically Crete, Cyprus and Turkey. The common name comes from the fact that the bulb flowers in high alpine areas just as the snow melts in spring. I have found buds waiting under the snow for me in my garden.
Glory-of-the-Snow is closely related to Scilla so much so that Chionodoxa species are often included in Scilla. The most common garden species is also hard to tease out as both C. forbesii and C. siehei are thought to be the same. It depends who you talk to as to which one is considered the most commonly planted. I have lost track of which is which in my garden.
Glory-of-the-Snow is a very underused early flowering bulb. It flowers and then dies back and disappears as the later spring perennials grow larger and fill in. Chionodoxa’s botanical name is derived from the Greek words for “snow” (chion) and “glory” (doxa).
This flower can be used informally in woodland gardens, meadows and rock gardens. I have some planted in the lawn, meadow and throughout various flower beds.
Good companions for Glory-of-the-Snow are hellebores, Pulmonaria and Primula. I like to include them with spring bulbs such as daffodils, tulips and snowdrops or planted in the lawn mixed with crocus.
Glory-of-the-Snow is a great plant for naturalizing because it self-seeds and produces new bulbs. Bulbs planted in fall will flower in spring, but plants growing from the self-seeding take 2-3 years to flower which is why you have to be patient for this plant to spread. Mine should be taking off this spring I hope if they haven’t drowned.
When they start to look crowded you can split them up after the leaves die back, and have new plants for another part of the garden.
Do you grow Glory-of-the-Snow? Have you seen it naturalized in a lawn or garden bed?
Gardening in the mind is a gentle vice with an impetus of its own; it may not be as potent as actually making one, but there is a whole different threshold where gardening in the head can fill our winter tranquility with unrest. ~Mirabel Osler
Seasonal Celebrations meme is happening now. Please join in as we celebrate our new season. Details about how to join are below.
Come Join Us:
Seasonal Celebrations is a time for marking the change of seasons and what is happening in your part of the world during this time. I hope you will join in by creating a post telling us how you celebrate this time of year whether winter or summer or something else. Share your traditions, holidays, gardens and celebrations in pictures, poetry or words starting March 1st.
And it seems so appropriate to collaborate with Beth and her Lessons Learned meme. What lessons have you learned this past season of autumn here in the North and spring in the South. Then tell us about your wishes, desires and dreams for this new season.
The rules are simple. Just create a post that talks about lessons learned and/or seasonal celebrations. If you are joining in for both memes please leave a comment on both our blog posts. Or if you are choosing to join only one meme, leave a comment on that blog post. Make sure to include a link with your comment.
Beth and I will do a summary post of our respective memes on the equinox (around the 20th of March). And we will keep those posts linked on a page on our blog. Your post should be linked in the weekend before the solstice to give us enough time to include your post in our summary. And if you link in a bit late, never fear we will include it on the special blog page. The badges here can be used in your post. So won’t you join in the celebration!!
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Next up on the blog: If I can get my act together, I will have a post Thursday about life, retirement and Lessons Learned in the Garden this winter. Next Monday I will have an interesting Garden Book to review.
I am linking in with Michelle@Rambling Woods for her Nature Notes meme. It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Wednesday.
I hope you will join me for my posts once a month at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. See my latest post.
I can also be found blogging once a month at Vision and Verb. I hope you enjoy my latest post.
As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.
I am also joining in I Heart Macro with Laura@Shine The Divine that happens every Saturday.
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